Boutique winery set to open this month

 

Spokane wine maker Butterfield Cellars LLC plans to open a new winery called Winescape this month at 6011 E. 32nd, on Spokane’s South Hill.

Butterfield Cellars is co-owned by Phillip Butterfield and his wife Patricia, who both work as research professors at Washington State University’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.

Phillip Butterfield is the company’s head winemaker, while the couple’s son Tristan Butterfield serves as a consulting winemaker.

“Phil and I are both scientists and clinicians by training, so we were interested in wine making as something that mixes chemistry and art,” says Patricia Butterfield. 

Butterfield says Winescape’s opening is set for Nov. 17.

She says the couple  bought a 14-acre farm in the Glenrose neighborhood in 2015 and moved there in June 2016. 

Butterfield says the site came with an 800-square-foot house and an 1,800-square-foot historic barn.

Last May, she says the couple finished building a 4,000-square-foot production facility next to the barn, which includes a small tasting room. 

The production facility was designed by Tom Kundig, an architect with Seattle-based Olson-Kundig, and constructed by Larry Walls, of Spokane-Valley–based Walls Construction Corp. 

“We chose this location because it’s really close and convenient for visitors, but still gives people that rural, small-farm vibe,” says Butterfield. 

Butterfield says the winery has one employee, but plans to hire a tasting room associate soon.

“Right now, we’re focused on making wine and distributing it to customers, and trying to spread the word about who we are,” she says. “Over the next few years, we hope to retrofit the barn and make that into the main tasting room.” 

—LeAnn Bjerken

 

 

Wright opens new Edward Jones office

 

Steve Wright, an adviser here with Des Pres, Mo.-based financial services firm Edward Jones, has opened an office in a 1,000-square-foot space on the fifth floor of the Northtown Office Building, at 4407 N. Division, says Brigette Harkins, the branch office administrator.

Wright previously shared space with financial adviser Stacie Duenich, also with Edward Jones, and her staff at 5515 N. Alberta, says Harkins.

Wright has worked out of the Alberta Street location since May of 2015.

His office offers financial advice on topics such as retirement planning, preparing for a child or grandchild’s education funding, budgeting for life insurance or long-term disability care, and investing in general, he says.

Financial advisers early in their careers with Edward Jones often work with established advisers before getting their own offices, he says.

Harkins says the office employs two people—herself and Wright.

Edward Jones offices typically have one financial adviser and a branch office administrator, Wright says.

Financial advisers “all have individual offices. It allows us to be more in the community,” he says.

Wright’s Edward Jones office is open 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

—Samantha Peone

 

 

Microbrewery set to open downtown

 

Mountain Lakes Brewing Co., a new Spokane microbrewery, plans to open in February on the southwest corner of Riverside Avenue and Browne Street downtown.

Tim Hilton and Dave Basaraba co-own the company, which has its roots as a home-brewing and growler club in Basaraba’s garage, on the South Hill. 

“We’ve been home brewing for about three years now with a one-barrel system set up,” says Basaraba. “Recently, we got to thinking we should be sharing it with more people so we got a license and started looking for retail space.” 

Hilton is a professor at Eastern Washington University, while Basaraba is a stay-at-home dad and musician.

Basaraba says the brewery will occupy a 1,500-square-foot space at 201 W. Riverside in the historic National Building, a space that formerly housed a Puffin Glass Studios store.

He says Construction Associates of Spokane is working to remodel the space, a project that’s expected to be finished by the middle of this month. 

“The space will be ready mid-November, but it will take us a few more months to brew enough beer, store it, and age it properly,” says Basaraba. “So we hope to open in February 2018.”

So far, Basaraba says, plans include a three-barrel brewery and tasting room, which will offer some of the duo’s more popular products, as well as some one-off brews. 

“It’ll be a small batch system,” he says. “We have three brews that we’re hoping to build around that are a bit more popular among our friends, what we call the Northwest Pale, a porter, and a lager we make each fall.”

Basaraba says he and Hilton plan to operate the brewery themselves, with some help from volunteer family members and friends. 

“We’ll start off that way and see how things go,” he says. “The dream is to expand to a 10- or 20-barrel brewery someday, but we’re starting with what we can realistically handle right now.”

—LeAnn Bjerken

 

 

Garden tool maker signs on new client

 

The creator of the Basic Garden Tool device says he’s secured another major retail client to carry a garden tool he first began developing seven years ago.

Inventor Dave Kindred says he also has been awarded a patent for the multipurpose tool that can be used for edging, digging, hoeing, trenching, and weeding.

Kindred, who lives in Liberty Lake, says he’s reached a five-year agreement with Topeka, Kan.-based Mother Earth News Store to carry his tool. Consumers also can find the tool with a five-star rating on Amazon.com Inc.’s website. To date, he’s sold more than 4,500 tools to domestic and international customers.

Northwest Seed & Pet, along with Peters Hardware, carry the Basic Garden Tool. The average retail price is $64.

The device has triangular-shaped beveled head and a sawtooth front and back with edges to cut through plant material for weeding.

The Basic Garden Tool is manufactured with handles of five lengths that vary to fit a user’s height.

Kindred credited Spokane law firm Wells St. John PS and L&M Precision Manufacturing Inc., of Airway Heights, for providing the necessary support and expertise to help him secure the patent.

“In a nutshell, they basically said, ‘This is worth fighting for, so let’s keep it going,’’’ Kindred says. As for signing on with Mother Earth, Kindred says, “It could really be a jump starter.”

Other manufacturers that make the tool’s parts include Inland Northwest Metallurgical Services Inc. and Inland Millworks, both of Spokane Valley.

—Kevin Blocker

 

 

Idaho water vendor to build new office

 

Rathdrum-based Water Solutions Inc. is building a $400,000 office building with an attached three-bay shop at 14655 N. Kimo Court, in Rathdrum, says Bryan Ward, president of Water Solutions.

The building will have a total of 4,200 square feet of space, Ward says.

Water Solutions, a drinking water purification unit vendor, is relocating to accommodate business expansion, he says. The company has been operating out of out 1,200-square-foot, three-bay shop at 18320 N. State Route 41, in Rathdrum, he says.

“We’re finally growing enough that I can’t fit anything else here,” he says, laughing. “We have to get a bigger place.”

Ward says he hopes to start construction this month, and complete the project around April 1. Steel Structures of America Inc., of Post Falls, is the general contractor. 

The new building also will include four offices, a customer lobby, a conference room, a lunchroom, and storage space.

Including Ward, Water Solutions has four employees. The company plans to hire another employee in February and two more once the building opens, he says.

Established in 2001 as a sole proprietorship, Water Solutions is a family-run business that sells and rents out point-of-use coolers, he says.

Water Solutions is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Business hours likely will be extended once the new office opens, he says.

—Samantha Peone